Russell claims pole position in Qatar as Verstappen faces a demotion by the stewards.
Mercedes’ George Russell was elevated to pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix on Saturday after stewards handed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a grid penalty, dropping him one place for driving unnecessarily slow during the qualifying session.
Four-time world champion Verstappen had initially celebrated his first pole in five months but was then scrutinised for an incident involving Russell, which the British driver labelled as “super-dangerous”.
Stewards acknowledged the complexity of the situation but concurred that Verstappen, who secured his fourth consecutive title in Las Vegas last weekend, was moving too slowly on a cool-down lap when Russell unexpectedly came up behind him.
“This unusual incident took place when neither vehicle was on a push lap,” they remarked in a statement. “If Car 63 (Russell) had been on a push lap, the penalty would likely have been the standard three-grid position.”
“However, as a mitigating factor, it was evident that the driver of Car 63 had a clear view of Car 1 (Verstappen).”
The constructors’ championship could be decided in Sunday’s race, with frontrunners McLaren outqualifying their nearest competitors Ferrari by placing both their cars ahead.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from McLaren secured third and fourth positions respectively, after maximising their points haul from the sprint, propelling the team 30 points ahead in their quest for a first constructors’ championship in 26 years. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari will be starting in fifth position, with his teammate Carlos Sainz in seventh. Verstappen recorded his fastest lap with a time of one minute 20.520 seconds, which could have been his first pole position since Austria in late June, marking his ninth of the season. “That was amazing, the turnaround. Great job guys,” he communicated via radio after completing the lap 0.055 seconds faster than Russell.
RED BULL IMPLEMENT CHANGES
Verstappen finished eighth in Saturday’s sprint due to issues with balance and grip. Team principal Christian Horner mentioned that Red Bull altered “pretty much everything we could change” to enhance the car’s performance. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth for Mercedes, trailing Russell by 0.436 seconds, while Fernando Alonso placed eighth for Aston Martin, and Verstappen’s struggling teammate Sergio Perez took ninth place.
Kevin Magnussen secured the tenth spot on the grid for Haas, who are contesting a midfield duel for sixth with Renault-owned Alpine and Red Bull’s RB. Piastri led Norris in the sprint, after swapping positions near the finish as recompense for the Australian’s earlier gesture of allowing the Briton to win in Brazil, enhancing his drivers’ championship prospects. “Not the position we were hoping for after yesterday and today but the maximum we could do,” said Norris, who erred at turn five during his initial attempt in the final phase, regarding his grid position for Sunday. “The lap was fairly good. I felt pleased with it but just lacked speed compared to others. I don’t think we match the pace of Mercedes, and Red Bull demonstrated significant improvement since yesterday, so there’s ample opportunity for everyone.”
“It was unexpected for us to be so close to McLaren, yet a surprise that Red Bull and Mercedes were so formidable,” commented Leclerc. Sainz was called before the stewards post-session for an unsafe release from the Ferrari garage into Hamilton’s path, resulting in a 5,000 euro (£4,300) fine for the team.
